TRON has always been a franchise that breaks new ground, with the technology utilised in 1982's TRON and 2010's TRON: Legacy pushing VFX to their limits upon release. Now, it's down to TRON: Ares to update the long-running sci-fi series for a very different world.
Talking to Empire Online (via SFFGazette.com), filmmaker Joachim Rønning said that ILM is treating TRON: Ares like it's "the Holy Grail of computer graphics," and adds that they set out to "elevate" this world and take it "to the next level."
That included motion-controlled camera movements, designed as if the lens is operated by a machine rather than a man. "The concept was that a program is filming a program. So it’s shot by a robot," Rønning teased.
Original TRON creator Steven Lisberger was on hand to say, "Something comes out, and it’s too avant-garde at the time. And then the real world catches up with it. It has become a symbol of our riding this technology that is going faster than we ever imagined. We’ve integrated into it, and the speed of it is mind-boggling. And in Ares, it’s a metaphor for the fact that this technology is moving through every part of our reality."
With these comments comes two Empire Magazine covers, along with some stills from TRON: Ares. With The Fantastic Four: First Steps featured on last month's issue, it appears Superman won't be getting a cover story in the publication.
Conspicuous by his absence in this new TRON: Ares material is Oscar-winner Jared Leto. Disney might have a tough time promoting him as TRON: Ares' lead star, as the actor was recently forced to deny accusations of sexual misconduct from nine women. Rumours about Leto's alleged behaviour toward young and underage women date back to at least 2005.
TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind's first encounter with A.I. beings.
The movie stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, and Gillian Anderson. Joachim Rønning directs; producers are Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger.
TRON: Ares arrives in theaters on October 10, 2025.